Fragments of the rising full moon shone through the intricate basketwork of the pine trees, but then reassembled into a boring orb when it rose above the trees into the bare sky. That's when I quit watching and came back indoors. It was a pleasant hour, though. I can still hear frogs croaking along the seasonal stream to the east, but with little or no rain coming up it will soon dry out and the nights will fall silent again. The forecast says about a 55% chance of rain next Tuesday, but the odds don't seem good to me. May rain is pretty rare in these parts.

My rose bushes have bloomed in a rush, though the greatest number of blossoms are on the suckers growing from the rootstock. They are small and bright red, being the ancestral stock to which the hybrids were grafted. There are only a few of the big tea roses this year, and few buds coming along, but I haven't seen so many of the small roses at once before. Once they are gone they are unlikely to be replaced by another such profusion. The tea roses used to bloom all summer, but the ancestors tend to emerge all at once then turn quiet. There will be a few more, but never so many again.

The cool weather is returning, and should linger for several days. It was balmy today, but I intend to close the windows soon. The draft is already quite chilly. I had hoped I was done with the furnace for the year, but the nights are going to be dropping down into the 40 again, so I guess I'll be buying a bit more gas for it after all. Well, better that than the blazing heat of summer. There have been Mays like July here, and I'm happy that this one hasn't gone that way so far.

Now I have to find something to eat. Again I forgot about dinner. I always remember to feed the cats. You'd think they'd have the decency to at least remind me to eat.